


Skin Deep

by orphan_account



Series: Fill the Void [36]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst, Fake AH Crew, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In these quiet moments in the bathroom where the blood wipes off the white porcelain so easily like it never existed in the first place, Gavin measures his crewmates by their hands and their touch.--Gavin is injured and Ryan is there to help him.
Relationships: Gavin Free/Ryan Haywood
Series: Fill the Void [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663750
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	Skin Deep

Adrenaline has a nasty habit of hiding the true pain. Sometimes you don’t feel like you’ve just fallen into a dumpster from two storeys up until you collapse on a park bench and _whoa._ Has your back always felt like that?

It’s an occupational hazard that each of them deal with. You work in a crew and eventually you build up routines to make sure you’re not bleeding from a femoral artery or something. Have someone check over you in the bathroom to make sure none of your injuries are bad enough to warrant a paid visit from a doctor on their payroll.

In these quiet moments in the bathroom where the blood wipes off the white porcelain so easily like it never existed in the first place, Gavin measures his crewmates by their hands and their touch.

Despite being the leader of the crew and been in this life the near longest, Geoff’s hands often shake when he’s staring a cut in the face when he needs to apply sutures. He’s always afraid that he’s going to hurt someone more than they already are. Eventually, he becomes the ‘in case of emergencies’ helper. He’s surprisingly squeamish about blood, always making a concerned groan in the back of his throat.

Jack’s hands are steady, surprisingly rough. She has thick callouses, but she considers it a job to be done. In and out. That’s her style. Not much bedside manner because in her mind there’s always something else that needs to done at that moment. Usually making sure they’re in a safe place before they hunker down.

Michael doesn’t know his own strength. Holds too hard, pinches too hard, brings the suture needle in much too low. He’s more for sticking a band aid over something and calling it a day. Here’s your damn cookie. Now eat it. Not exactly the type of care you need after you narrowly lost your life.

Jeremy actually has first aid training, but he always second guesses himself, wants to get someone who’s more qualified than him even if he has the training.

It was first surprising for Gavin to see how gentle Ryan could be despite the fact that he pulled triggers for a living. Gavin thinks he knows more than the others how to stich a wound to make sure it’ll have a minimalist scar in the end. He knows how take care of Gavin, give him the time he needs to not only make sure he’s cared for physically but mentally and emotionally as well. It’s aftercare to an extent, making sure that Gavin is in want of nothing by the end of the night.

It sounds cheesy if he thinks about it. Like if Ryan was the nurse dressed in white and Gavin was his patient and they just fell in love. Like some modern romance. But he finds he doesn’t mind Ryan. Likes him, in fact. And one thing leads to another and Michael’s asking why is Ryan over when he comes over for an unannounced brunch.

They make it work, make sure the state of their relationship doesn’t interfere with work, otherwise Geoff would be peeved about that and no one wants to piss off Geoff more than necessary.

They end up in a shootout while defending one of their warehouses from an encroaching gang. It’s finally reached a boiling point where the shootout turns ugly and violent. They know that if they keep this up, the police will be here in droves and that’s not something they can afford. Not when the warehouse is backed up onto the bay and it’s just open water with no available amphibious transport and only one road out of here. It’s not an ideal place, in hindsight, but Gavin can’t focus on this. Not when he’s focused on keeping his head on his shoulders.

“Gavin!”

He turns his head, sees Ryan at the other side of the warehouse. He’s pointing at an open window, covered amply by scaffolding and crates. It’s their only way out of here. But that means Gavin needs to dash across the warehouse floor with minimal cover. But he’s quick. He should be able to make it.

So he steels himself, waits for the gunfire to die down a bit, for them to focus more on Ryan than him, and then _go._

He’s running. Legs and arms pumping as he dashes across the warehouse. Ducks whenever he hears a shot, and then he’s stumbling and pushing into a dive across the floor until he slides up against Ryan.

“Let’s go,” Ryan says. He gets to the window first so he can pull Gavin up after him. They’re down on the ground in seconds, running for Ryan’s motorcycle before their taking off with a harsh rev down the streets and back to safety.

They go for one of Ryan’s many hideouts. An apartment that’s covered in dust, a testament to how long it’s been left untouched. Ryan immediately sets out ensuring that their safe, pulling blinds over the windows, making phone calls. Gavin’s feeling a bit queasy, a bit unsteady on his feet and he’d really just like to lie down for a bit. Shut his eyes, wait until this feeling passes.

“Gonna splash some water on my face, Ryan,” he says. He’s not sure if Ryan hears him, but he stumbles off for the bathroom and barely shuts the door behind him. The faint feeling doesn’t leave and he’s not sure why. He finds himself stumbling back, trying to find his balance but can’t. He reaches out, grabs for the shower curtain and goes sprawling out on the ground. The noise is enough to bring Ryan to him.

“Gavin?” he says. “Are you okay?”

Gavin is clearly _not_ okay. He’s on the ground, feeling faint but also numb over his entire body.

“Are you bleeding?” Ryan asks, and then he’s moving, digging for a kit from under the sink.

“Don’t know,” Gavin says, but as he raises a hand he sees how red it is. “Oh. _Oh._ That’s not good.”

He ends up on the floor of the bathroom with his shirt rucked up to this armpits as Ryan wipes down the area just above his hipbone. It’s a graze. A deep one. He’s lucky it wasn’t worse. It’s just going to be a lot of stitches and a likely painful recovery. The wound will surely pull whenever he moves.

“Didn’t even feel it,” Gavin mumbles.

“I’m not surprised.” Ryan goes quiet as he works, shimmies Gavin out of his jeans so he can continue cleaning him down. “One time I walked around with a broken ankle for two days. Didn’t even know until the third. Sometimes that just happens.”

Still, it scares Gavin to think that he could’ve bled out in the bathtub.

Ryan wraps him up tightly and moves him to the bedroom after making up the bed with fresh sheets. Gavin runs his hands down the thick padding of gauze and sterile wrap. He turns into Ryan’s side when he returns to the bedroom.

“Thank you,” he says. “Really. I don’t know what I would’ve done on my own.”

“It’s nothing, really. I’ll always take care of you.”

Gavin finds himself smiling a little. “You’re so full of cheese.”


End file.
